Tag: Pakistan
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Recent writing
In 2019, I broke my foot and wrote a book – which is one way of saying that the year has passed in a bit of a blur. Here are…
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Saving mothers
Postpartum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide, responsible for around 100,000 deaths every year. While around 6 per cent of women giving birth all over the world…
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Facebook blackmail
Gender-based harassment can look extremely different in different parts of the world, posing a conundrum for global social media companies: what might look like a totally mundane image to a…
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Pakistani politics
I’ve been going back and forth to Pakistan a lot this year as I research for my forthcoming book, Karachi Vice, and work on other projects, including my first documentary film…
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From Our Own Correspondent
I’m a huge radio nerd and Kate Adie fan, so was really delighted to have a couple of pieces on the BBC’s flagship show From Our Own Correspondent this year.…
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I’m writing a book!
I am so delighted to announce that I’ve won the inaugural Portobello Prize for narrative non-fiction, which was set up to “showcase the most exciting new voices in narrative non-fiction, offering debut…
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Recent writing on Pakistan
I’ve written a few pieces about Pakistan in recent months. Rising from the ashes: a new era in Pakistani cinema (emerge85) I wrote this piece about Pakistani cinema’s “new wave”…
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Remembering Partition
On the 14th and 15th August, Pakistan and India celebrated their respective Independence Days. This year, which marks 70 years since the Partition of India, the celebrations were accompanied by…
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Attacks on free speech
Five years ago, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison and 1000 lashes. His crime was starting a website that discussed liberal ideas. In…
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In Gwadar
During a long trip to Pakistan last year, I visited Gwadar, a remote coastal town in the far reaches of Balochistan. This province is huge, underdeveloped and home to a…
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The Things I Would Tell You
“The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write” is a fantastic anthology, published by Saqi and edited by Sabrina Mahfouz. It contains writing from a wide range of…
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Karachi’s ambulance drivers
Late last year, I travelled to Karachi to spend a week with Muhammad Safdar, an ambulance driver for the Edhi Foundation. This is a huge charitable empire which fills many of…
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Pakistan’s madrasas
During my latest trip to Pakistan in spring of this year, I traveled around the country and reported on different aspects of extremism. I recently wrote a long feature for…
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Pakistan’s educated militants
The second part of my project for the Times, looking into support for ISIS in Pakistan, came out in the paper on 21 June. This piece focused on ISIS cells and…
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Female jihadis in Pakistan
My most recent trip to Pakistan (from March-April this year) was with the Times newspaper, under the auspices of the Richard Beeston Bursary. As well as covering general news, I…
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Recent scribblings
I’ve been working on some longer projects recently, but thought I would share links to some other bits and pieces I’ve been publishing. In January I wrote this column for…
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Richard Beeston Bursary 2015
I’m thrilled to have been awarded the 2015 Richard Beeston Bursary. Set up last year, the award is for a young British journalist to spend six weeks abroad, researching and…
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Karachi Vice
Earlier this year, I travelled to Karachi (where I lived in 2012) to spend some time with the city’s crime reporters. This is one of the most crime-ridden cities in…
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Recent work
Here are a few links to some of the things I’ve worked on recently. “People care about their own rights – it’s other people’s that are more challenging” (New Humanist)…
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Karachi airport under attack
On 8 June, Taliban gunmen stormed Karachi airport, killing scores of people before they were eventually fought off by security forces. I’ve lived in Karachi and have many friends and…
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Jailed journalists
Late last year, three journalists working for Al Jazeera in Cairo were arrested and charged with terrorism and smearing Egypt’s reputation. The three men – Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy, and…
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Karachi’s endangered architecture
I wrote a piece for the Financial Times about architecture in Karachi, a city I’ve lived in. It’s full of beautiful colonial-era architecture, but the prevailing attitude has been to…
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Acid violence: increasing?
I wrote a piece for this week’s New Statesman about the horrific crime of acid violence. The piece looks at recent incidents in the UK, and explains some background about…
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The Ahmadiyya: global persecution
The Ahmadiyya are one of Pakistan’s most persecuted communities. Legally classed as non-Muslims, this sect is subject to a whole range of persecutions. As such, many have left Pakistan in…
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Recent work
On 14 January, I appeared on the BBC News Channel’s paper review, with Oliver Wright from the Independent. A short write up is here. I’ve also written various shorter pieces…
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Karachi’s “Dirty Harry”
On 9 January, one of Karachi’s top policemen was killed by the Taliban. Chaudhry Aslam, who headed the city’s counter-terrorism operations, was a controversial figure who had faced at least…
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Highlights of 2013
Since the year has drawn to a close (and I’m avoiding getting started on 2014), I thought I’d post links to some of the articles I most enjoyed working on…
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The MQM’s London base
I wrote a feature for Vice Magazine about Altaf Hussain, the leader of Pakistan’s MQM party, who runs his party by “remote control” from Edgware in north London. He is…
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Recent work
I thought I’d share some links to some of my recent work. I’m still blogging regularly for the New Humanist. My recent posts include this one on breastfeeding and whether…